TJ Schur to lead IAF

A new CEO has been hired to lead the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC.

TJ Schur will be the organization’s new CEO starting March 1, IAFBC announced February 3. She succeeds Michelle Koski, who left the organization at the end of January to become an assistant deputy minister in the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

Schur brings an extensive resume to her new role, including senior management experience and leadership roles in not-for-profits, the agriculture sector, and provincial government.

She was most recently with the BC Ministry of Energy Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, where she served on the Indigenous Clean Energy Opportunities Initiative and as director, strategic initiatives, with the Columbia River Treaty negotiating team.

In addition, Schur has experience in the hazelnut sector as a facilitator of recovery from Eastern Filbert Blight. She was director, external relations with renewable energy developer Aeolis Wind Power Corp. and has been a consultant and served on community boards.

“I look forward to working with IAF’s board of directors, member organizations, the staff, and all other stakeholders in BC for the betterment of food security in this province,” says Schur in the press release announcing her appointment. “IAF has a reputation of excellence in program delivery. I’m eager to join the team and forge new partnerships and collaborations with BC’s diverse and world-class agriculture, agri-food and seafood sectors.”

Schur will take helm as the five-year Canadian Agricultural Partnership winds down and transitions to the new Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, which is set to be in place April 1. It will run through 2028.

Most of IAF’s programs are now closed for applications, but new projects will be announced once funding is renewed under the new policy framework, IAF senior program manager Alana Wilson told producers attending the Islands Agriculture Show, February 3-4.

Speaking at the BC Agriculture Gala in Abbotsford on January 25, Francis Drouin, parliamentary secretary to federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said work towards the bilateral agreement with BC for the new policy framework were progressing.

“Movements towards that have been positive and programs will be available post-April 1,” he says.

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3 hours ago

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4 days ago

After weeks and weeks of no moisture, there's rain in Kelowna today. While much more moisture is needed over the coming weeks and months to reduce drought conditions and the air smells of wet campfire, the slow, steady rain is very welcome for fruit grower#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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5 days ago

The first Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust Grassland Set-aside Variety Trial Field Day was held at Delta's family-owned Tecarte Farms, August 27. Co-owner Bill Bates and DFWT executive director Christine Schmalz welcomed more than 35 people to view seven acres planted to different grassland blends specifically chosen to rejuvenate the soil and support the farm's blueberries. For the Bates family, it was time to try something different following the decline of the field's blueberry bushes over the past several years. "We tried everything, and nothing worked," says Bates. The blueberries were removed in May and the grassland crops planted about a week later.

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I just wish they would take an interest in CHASE CREEK....went bone dry...100% of trout abd other species died...smell was terrible from rotting fish. Understand this has happened many times in the past. Chase Irrigation District totally responsible for this disaster. Now fishermen are complaining about major drop in water levels at Pillar Lake.

They could not mismanage things worse than they have. It's impossible for them to. The fact that farmers that we need for our animals are now suffering the consequences our governments have not protected us from, is absolutely fucking wild.

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Lana Popham is the hardest working MLA in the province, I don’t agree with the NDP policies, however I do recognize a hard working MLA…thanks for what you do